Island



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. S. TURNER.

SHOE WELT SEWING MACHINE.

No. 407,974. Patented July so, 1889.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sl1eet 2';

J. S. TURNER. SHOE WELT SEWING MAGHINE.

N0. 407,974. Patented July 30,- 1889..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH STANLEY TURNER, OF ROCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CAMPBELL MACHINE COMPANY, OF PAIVTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

SHOE-WELT-SEWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 407,974, dated July 30, 1889. Application fil d November 15, 1888- Serial No. 290,884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH STANLEY TURNER, of Rockland, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-\Velt-Sewing Mechanism; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear, true, and complete description of my invention.

It is to be understood that by the term weltsewing as employed by me in connection with a description of my invention I mean to include the operation of uniting a welt, an insole, and a shoe upper, whether that operation involves the use of thread and true stitch-forming mechanism or the use of metallic fastenings of any of the various forms practically applicable in the manufacture of boots and shoes for securely uniting the said parts thereof as a substitute for stitching. However a welt, an insole, and a shoe-upper may be united by means of machines organized for that purpose, the upper and insole must be first preliminarily united and thereby developed into a shoe-like form, and

then for getting the best results said parts are internally supported as upon a horn, the welt accurately presented, and the whole fed step by step along, upon, or with the shoesupport to admitof the regular operation of whatever means are relied upon by which these parts of a shoe are progressively united; and, although I shall illustrate and describe my invention in connection with one special type of stitch-forming mechanism, it is to be distinctly understood that my said improvements are equally applicable to other kinds 40 of sewing-machines, as well as to any'other machines for uniting welts, uppers, and insoles, which involve necessarily a shoe-supporting horn and awelt-guide. The special stitching mechanism to which I have referred is that employed in the well-known McKay machines, and I have practically applied my invention thereto with highly satisfactory results, and the advantages accruing from the use of my invention in that connection will also mainly accrue if applied to other machines, regardless of the character of the mechanism or means by which this line of work is accomplished. It is well known that, even in the hands of the most skilled operators, it is oftentimes difficult to obtain perfect work in the matter of evenly and smoothly stitching the welt, especially while turning at the toes of a shoe, as well as while curving at the shank. It is well known that the feeding movement of the shoe on the horn is effected by means of a feed-point or feeder, which reciprocates in a plane parallel with the needle and partially punctures the uppermost portion of the leather in advance of but in a prolongation of the stitch-line and pushes or forces the shoe in the direction of the needle a distance corresponding with the length of stitch desired. WVhen such a feedpoint engages with a welt, it is at a place thereon considerably in advance of the last stitch formed, and by its thrusting action on the welt the latter and the shoe are forced forward. This forcing labor of the feed-point is more or less increased by the frictional cont-act of the interior of the shoe with the horn, and it will be readily understood that if a welt be fairly light, soft, and flexible this thrusting strain thereon must cause it to bulge upward more or less between the feed-point and the last stitch made, and also to sometimes be thrust more or less laterally. from a desired line, especially in the case of a thin soft Welt. These tendencies to imper-, fect operation must obviously be coupled with a tendency to an imperfect presentation of the shoe to the stitching mechanism, which sometimes results in the improper location of the stitch-line with relation to the upper and the insole, all of which involves great care and watchfulness, even by the most skilled operators. The feeding or moving of a shoe on a horn during or simultaneously with the presentation of a welt obviously involves the difficulties recited, regardless of the mechanism or means by which the welt, the insole, and the upper are to be united.

The objects of my invention are to obviate all of said difficulties, and I accomplish them by the novel combination, with the horn and any suitable welt-guide co-operating with or forming-part'of a presser-foot, of a feeder which engages with a welt 'on both'sides of the line of union and closely adjacent to the portion of the welt last united to the insole and upper, so that instead of causing the thrusting action to be borne by a comparatively free portion of the welt, as heretofore, it is borne substantially by the entire shoe, because the feeder engages with a portion of the welt which has been already firmly united to the other parts of the shoe, and hence the welt cannot be bulged nor diverted from its proper position, and the shoe is fed true to the line of union desired whether it be a stitch line or a line of metal fastenings. Moreover, with the feeder as heretofore constructed and operated, by puncturing and thrusting on the stitch-line, or, in other words, along a substantially central portion of the welt, the latter is of necessity laterally concaved and unduly distorted, whereas with my feeding device the welt is kept substantially flat and in fine condition for subsequent operations. By engaging with the welt at two points and at both sides of the stitch-line or other line of union my feeder need not thrust so heavily into a welt as when the thrusting action is at one point only, and

hence the feeding operation is usually easier and smoother than heretofore, and in turning corners or curves at the toes and shanks the welt can be much more reliably presented to the mechanism by which the several parts are united. The best welt-leather is strongfibered and very flexible, and the avoidance of puckering results in substantial economy, because with my double-feed points shorter 5 welts can be used than when a single-feed point is employed.

To more particularly describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front view of so much of a McKay machine as is deemed necessary for illustration, and having my improvements applied thereto. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate in side and front views the feeder detached from the machine. Figs. 4:, 5, and G, in side, top view, and cross-section, illustrate the I presser-foot detached from the machine and constructed to operate as a welt-guide in its simplest form. Fig. 7 in plan view illustrates the lower portion of the presser-foot weltguide, a welt, a portion of a shoe as when mounted on the horn of the machine, and the operative position of the feed-points with relation to the last completed stitch through the Welt, the upper, and the insole.

In connection with the McKay machine but "little description will be needed further than to say that the horn A, hook-needle B, with the stitch-forming mechanism, are all precisely as heretofore, and that the presser-foot O differs from the ordinary foot as follows: The needle-slot instead of being a narrow straight slot, as heretofore, is now, as shown in Fig. 5, wide at its front end, as at a, with straight sides, and narrowed, as at a, into the usual dimensions. Again,the underside of the foot is scored or channeled, as at 00 to serve as a welt-guide, as shown in Fig. 6, and the shank of the foot has thereon a weltpressing spring a and a cross-bar a between which and said spring the welt passes under tension, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

It is to be understood that any form of weltgnide maybe employed, and although I show one of the simplest forms thereof known to me it is to be understood that I also use some of the more complex forms by which the shoeupper is gaged and the shoe itself guided on the horn, as well as to properly gage and guide the welt. It is, however, important that the combined presser-foot and welt-guide should be wide enough to properly cover the welt at both sides of the stitch-line and that its slot at a should be wide enough to enable my feeder to occupy its proper position for engaging with the welt.

The feeder D has its shank b coupled to its operative mechanism, as heretofore, and its movements are substantially the same. Instead, however, of having a single feed-point so located as to engage with a welt centrally, or atleast in line with the stitch-line, my feeder has two chisel-edged feed-points c c, separated by a space wider than the diameter of the needle and sufficient to freely accommodate the loop of thread carried upward by the needle and enabling said points to engage with the welt at both sides of the stitch-line and opposite the stitch last formed in the upper and insole and securing the welt thereto, as illustrated in Fig. 7, wherein the upper is shown at d, the insole at d, the last stitch formed at (1 and the position of the two feed-points at c 0 just prior to their thrusting or feeding movement, this latter varying in extent according to the length of stitch desired. In prior organizations having the single feed-point. the latter operates wholly and always in front of the needle, and although my feeder may involve the same range of movement my feed-points can thrust from a position closely adjacent to the plane occupied by the needle to a position rearward from said plane; or, in other words, my feeder when best arranged engages only with por tions of the welt which have already become a fixed part of the shoe, and hence the latter is thoroughly controlled and the welt cannot possibly be bulged or deranged in position by the action of the feeder, and this enables this branch of work to be well performed by ordinary and comparatively unskilled operators, and also enables skilled operators to more rapidly and perfectly perform this duty than when using the ordinary feeder.

While stitching a welt at the rounded corners of the toes of shoes the feed-point at the inner side will engage with the welt at somewhat shorter intervals of space than the outer point, because the inner curved line is shorter ICC than the outer curved line; but the welt will be well controlled while swinging the shoe on the horn in turning the corners. Then the welt-guide is accompanied by a guide or gage for the upper of the shoe for securing the accurate movement of the shoe on the horn in conformity with the edge outline of the insole, the shoe can be guided with special facility, requiring comparatively little skill by the operator, because there is not the least tendency by my feeder to derange the position of the shoe laterally on the horn. It will be seen that the space afforded between the feed-points will be occupied by a needle and also by standing thread regardless of the character of the stitching mechanism which may be employed, and also that said space would in like manner be occupiedby such plungers or drivers as may be employed in connection with wire fastenings, as well as by said fastenings themselves during their presentation and descent into their ultimate positions.

I am aware that it is not broadly new in sewing-machin es to employ either a bifurcated upper feed-bar or a pair of upper feed-dogs arranged to operate on both sides of the stitchline; but I believe I am the first to develop the value of that principle in connection with welt-sewing or otherwise uniting welts, insoles, and uppers, and, although some forms of said prior upper feed-dogs have been widely known for upward of thirty years, I am the first, as I believe, to devise mechanism for the purpose indicated and embodying as a novel and valuable feature two feed-points which can engage with the welt on both sides of the uniting or stitch line, and thereby obviate the hereinbefore-recited difficulties which have been encountered ever since the first attempts at mechanically uniting welts, uppers, and insoles. It will be obvious that should the presser-foot and welt-guide be so constructed that neither formed any portion of the other no departure from my invention would be involved, and also that it is immaterial whether a part of the welt-guide serves as a pre'sser-foot or a part of the presser-foot serves as a weltguide, so long as the functions of each are properly performed, and so long as due provision is made for the described operation of the feed-points on'both sides of the stitchline, and even if the said two feed-points be arranged to operate upon the comparatively free portion of a welt valuable results will accrue from their use as compared with the use of the single point.

It will be obvious that the function of the horn in affording an internal support for a boot or shoe during the operation of my double feed-points is in no manner dependent upon any additional functionsas, for instance, that of a housing for a portion of the stitching mechanism.

Havin thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with-a shoe-supporting horn and a welt-guide, of a feeder provided with two feed-points and having a space between said points to be occupied by the means employed in uniting a welt, an insole, and the upper of a shoe, substantially as described, whereby during the operation of uniting the said parts of a shoe the latter will be fed or moved upon the horn by the thrusting action of the feeder on both sides of the line of union and by engaging with the welt closely adjacent to that portion thereof which was last united to the upper and insole.

2. The combination, with a shoe-supporting horn, stitch-forming mechanism, and a weltguide, of a feeder which is above said horn and has two feed-points for engaging with a welt and affords between them a space for the reception of a needle, substantially as described, whereby in securing welts to uppers and insoles said feed-points maybe caused to engage with the welt at both sides of the stitchline and closely adjacent to the stitch last formed during their thrusting action in moving a shoe on the horn. Y

The combination, with stitch forming mechanism and a shoe-supporting horn, of a pair of feed-points aifording a space between them for occupation by a n eedle and the thread carried thereby, and a presser-foot serving as a welt-guide and slotted for the reception of said feed-points and needle, substantially as described.

JOSEPH STANLEY TURNER.

\Vitnesses:

JosHUA S. SMITH, Jenn G. KNIGHT. 

